Door closer mechanism



March 6, 1951 M. CARLSON ETAL 2,544,253

DOOR CLOSER MECHANISM Filed May 11, 1949 l5 L 1 v INVENTORS Marina0'7'26072 an vide animp oiled socketed" fnem on FIE ltlartin; Carlson;Broolifield; antBOt-tdb D: Michael;-

sen; Evel g11 .com Bggrk; Ill.,:(.assignots;- by miesne ignme ts: i eecage, Ill

Thisinv'ention';rel'zttesf closer mechanisms. Indooiiolosefiiineohanismsof the type that'are mountedf the-floor; of a.build-"- ing structure; adjacent anedge: of thezdoor an actuatingpino'r'stud generally'is providedas; e.- pai t of the" mechanismathatprojectslabovej the. floor level for engagementby mam secured-{to theIowa-edge 0'1. thedo'oiw fons'upportingthe; door alndi for? turning.the. pin as the door is opened; turning of: the? pin generally through.cam action stores: up: energy in a spring structure; which effects the:return movement of" the door' to closed" position; unden 94::-cushioning; or: com

trolling action: of a: dash 150E103 the: like; form:

ing a part ofi'theimechanismfl p The arms of the? type ment-ioned;ivand; here undeneons-ideretion, are provided withheads that are r sed; oket o rece v e he pset portion of the pin; The sockets referred to are irm d -n t lowe he tre-and 9 apt te dlv a t th' h h i o s ib tane t peeeetlthe: upper ends, and; sincevsubsteintiellythe en;

tire. weight of the doorto which snchen erm is efiectuating pin v ofdear closer" s which, when'the'head is fe ee; sli hu'y with sp'et'tothepiifin" eltatiri'gthe door to 'ajusted position above the floor,enables a shim o1 spei'oer" to'he 'ihsefted in the socket over the'end-of "the p'in without removing the-socketTroni the pin of'the-fdooiffroih itsil iing'edsu' ipo'rt's5- A other objectfof tlieinvehjtionis tb fir v 'secliet 'airmforn do or close'r' rneohanism'thet'i formed as to permit insertion of a shim OffS I'fl IDQ toimprovements indoor Amadditional oki jeo't of theinvention is to pro:videeni improvedrdoon supportingiermfor at door closerm'echenisni thatisxprovided with a clamp: ing head sorformed to permit insertion ot a;suitable? key; or spline imposition for keying the head to" the: pint ofthe door closer mechanism after: the! door has been hung and properlyad; justedlrelatiye to thedoor opening=, whereby'durf i'ng the makingof:' such adjustments the door is freely movable; om its pivotal ajxisindependently oflonuninfiuenced b y the-door closer-mechanism;

Other: objects: of; the.- invention relate to; var;- ious features-otgconstmictions25nd arrangement of parts: which wili be: apparent froma: consider-a: tion: of; the follovxzingg specification andeccom'pa-nying; drawing," wherein:

Eigure 1 isf 211 plan View; of: as door: supporting aim andtheassocieted pin ofr a door 'closer mech ariisin: of the-type mounted inthe: floor 5 adjacent one side: of the: door opening};

Fig;- 2: is; an eleilational View; of the structure shownm Fig? 13 adoor being indicated by the broken-dines; V i

Fig; 3 is a;-: detailseetion'e h view-taken om line 3 3' at: 1;; ane-; pI

In? th I10: indicates; generally? as door v rm 0 a-typ' adaptedto besecured b-yscreWs; rth likepin atgroov on chehnePpTrofvided in the loweredge-ore; door. The ar ihr I50 is provided with el-xliterally' offsethead ind-i'cateii generallyby numeral Hi. The-head: I :l isaprovided'with: at: rec'ess oi'tsocket' 1'2 open: at the lower side of the headwhicii' enablesrtliemead to be slipped downwardly over-the upperportion: of a pin" or stud; l3 of:- a? door closer: mechanism? The. piriprojects; ebove tli'e'? floor line} as is? well known? whilethemechanism itself, indicated generally by numeral; l 4 ,1i s supn'carte'd ina5 cement" casing lo'ceitedwithiri the flooi' structiiie Siioh a'door is provided with: an: upper.- hinge: member, not snowmanthe-drewingpwhioh, vtogether with the pin: is; provide the pivotal? axisabout which the: door swingsz The headil l isiprovided with an upper-wenl 5. whieh closes the upper: end of the socketg and which: waitnormally: seeit the" upper end' of htlofi the door up: Ten-emittedt'othe p'iii needle! shownzin the. rewinlgis providedi ithar were Hiwhich -e tehds nemoriesia tt the je'oeht si f: ek'et foi rendering theheet V s" "hat nti eetn the' ti-gl'itenin of e v e: screw?" M;wherebythe so'eket cam-be tightened upon the pin. Mere frictionalcontact between the socket walls and the pin is not relied upon toprevent relative movement of the arm with respect to the pin, for thereason that the swinging of the door to open position must turn the pin,which generally, through cam action, results in the storing up of energyin a spring structure forming part of the door closer mechanism foreffecting the closing of the door when the same has been released.

For preventing slippage or relative movement of a head with reference toa pin, the sockets and pins of door closers have heretofore sometimesbeen formed of rectangular form in crosssection or provided with splinesor keys. The formation of a socket which is rectangular in cross-sectionfor coaction with a pin of like shape, requires certain manufacturingsteps that are avoided by the present construction. By makin the socketand the pin cylindrical, the manufacture of the pin and head isfacilitated and the keying of the head to the pin can be accomplished bythe mechanism shown in the drawing, after the door has been mounted onthe arm and the arm placed upon the pin, and adjustments of the doorhave been made without thereafter removing the head from the pin. Foraccomplishing this and an additional purpose to be hereinafterdescribed, an upper portion of the head is provided in efiect with acut-out defined by faces I8 and I9, which intersect in an upper portionof the socket, providing a port 20 communicating with the socket. Thesocket is provided with a keyway 2| for receiving a key which isrectangular in cross-section and indicated by the numeral 22, while thepin is provided merely with a flat surface 23 which may be formed by agrinding operation, as will be seen. The provision of the cut-outdescribed, renders the upper end of the keyway 2| accessible from theexterior of the head, which, as shown in Fig. 1, is located at one sideof the plane of the door. Hence, when the keyway 2| and the fiat face 23of the pin are in registration, the key 22 can be inserted in positionfor preventing relative rotation of the head with reference to the pin.After insertion of the key 22, the screw I! is rotated in a direction totighten the head firmly upon the pin for holding the parts againstrelative movement.

After the arm has been secured to the door and the latter mounted inposition with the head on the pin, a small tool constituting a temporarykey, such as a screw driver bit, or the like, can be inserted in thekeyway 2| when the door is closed, notwithstanding that the fiat surface23 will not then be in perfect registration with the keyway. The reasonfor the lack of registration just mentioned, is that the flat face 23 isprovided on the pin at such position that the closer mechanism will tendto swing the arm beyond a position parallel with the plane of the doorwhen closed, and thereby exert sufficient force for retaining the doorfully closed against the jamb against gusts of wind, etc. Afterinsertion of the temporary key, the door is swung to an open position,which will effect rotation of the pin in a direction for storing upenergy in the closer mechanism. The temporary key, such as the screwdriver mentioned, is then withdrawn from the keyway and as the pin isrotated by the door closer mechanism, the door is manually rotatedtoward closed position at a rate to eifect registration of the keyway ISwith the flat face 23, at which time, the key 22 is pressed intoposition for keying the parts together. Itwill be understood that themovement of the pin by the mechanism is relatively slow, and that aworkman can readily swing the door at the proper rate to effectregistration of the keyway 21 with the fiat face 23 to enable the key tobe inserted. In the event the door closer mechanism is of the type whichwill releasably hold the door in an open position, a temporary key, suchas a screw driver bit, can be utilized for temporarily keying the headto the pin for swinging the pin to the hold-open position referred to,after which the screw driver is removed and the door adjusted relativelyto the pin to eifect registration of the keyway and the flat surface 23,and the key 22 then inserted. The final keying of the head to the key,as described above, is a distinct advantage not only from the standpointof manufacture of the parts, but for the reason that after the arm l0has been secured to the door and the head has been mounted upon the pin,the head can be freely rotated on the pin during adjustment of the doorto proper position with respect to the door opening. Hence, with theimproved structure, the door can be properly adjusted by means notshown, for shifting the position of the pin l3 or the pintle of theupper hinge member, before keying the head to the pin.

The cut-out section, above referred to, is of advantage in anotherrespect. Sometimes, due to wear of the parts of the hinge structure, ordue to sagging of the door, or to changes in the condition of the floor,it becomes necessary to elevate the door slightly with reference to thefloor. With the mechanism shown in the drawing, the door can be raisedwith reference to the pin after loosening the clamp screw IT, to enablethe insertion of a shim or spacer 24 of proper thickness between theupper end of the pin and the upper closed end of the socket, thusholding the door in the elevated position to provide the clearancenecessary. The spacer 24 is shown in the form of a washer having acentral recess 25 which is aligned axially with a threaded recess 26provided in the pin I3. The recess 26 is designed to receive a screw 21for holding an ornamental cover plate 28 in position on the head, thecoverv plate being indicated by broken lines in Figures 1 to 3inclusive. The screw, however, is removed when a shim 24 is to beinserted, and upon replacement of the screw, the diameter of which isless than the diameter of the recess 25, the screw retains the shim inposition against dislodgment through the port 20 formed by the cut-outportion of the head above referred to. It will be understood that informing the cut-out, the portion need not actually be cut away, but thatthe head may be forged in the form illustrated. The cut-outprovidesaccess to the socket for the insertion of a key, as describedabove, after a door has been hung and properlyadjusted, and also permitsinsertion of a shim for adjusting the door elevationally without removalof the head I from the pm.

The arm herein described is shown but not claimed in the priorapplication of Martin Carlson, one of the joint applicants of thepresent application, said prior application having been filed April 29,1949, Serial No. 90,530 for Door Closers.

While we have shown and described a structure that is illustrative ofthe invention, variations thereof may be utilized without departure fromthe spirit of the invention defined by the appended claims- 'v:.-:

We claim:

1. A door supporting armvfor a floor mounted door closer mechanismcomprising a rotatable vertical actuating pin, said arm being providedwith a head having a vertical socket open at the lower surface of thehead and having a top closure wall adapted to rest on the upper end ofthe pin when the head is in position on the pin, said head beingprovided with a lateral recess communicating with the upper portion ofthe socket through which a shim can be inserted between the upper end ofthe pin and said wall for supporting the head and arm in anelevationally adjusted position with respect to the pin, and means forretaining the shim in position on the end of the pin.

2. A door supporting arm for a door closer mechanism comprising arotatable vertical actuating pin, said arm being provided with a headhaving a vertical socket open at the lower surface of the head andhaving a top closure wall adapted to rest on the upper end of the pinwhen the head is in position on the pin, said head being provided with alateral recess communicating with the upper portion of the socketthrough which a perforated disc-shaped shim can be inserted between theupper end of the pin and said wall for supporting the head and arm inelevationally adjusted position with respect to the pin, said wall andpin being provided with registering openings, and a screw extendingthrough the opening in the wall into the opening in said pin and adaptedto pass through the perforation in the shim for retaining the latter inposition on the end of the pin.

3. A door supporting arm for a door closer mechanism comprising arotatable vertical actuating pin, said arm being provided with a headhaving a vertical socket open at the lower surface of the head andhaving a top closure wall adapted to rest on the upper end of the pinwhen the head is positioned on the pin, said head being provided withexterior walls intersecting in a chordal line of the socket to provide arecess communicating with the upper portion of the socket providingaccess to the latter for accommodating insertion of a shim horizontallyinto the socket between the upper end of the pin and the top wall of thesocket, and means for retaining a shim in position in the socket.

The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Rixson June 10, 1913 Number

